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Popular ESPN Star Sports presenter Jason Dacey, the host
of Sportsline, is looking at hosting a weekly feature
show before the year is through.
Dacey,
who hosts the daily news programme Sportsline Today and
Sportsline Tonight on Star Sports at 7 am and 7:30
pm respectively, is currently in India to garner "feedback
from journalists and sports enthusiasts about his show".
Dacey
said that the feedback he had received was enouraging. Dacey
has been hosting the show since November 2001 and took up
the assignment as "it was refreshing and presented a challenge".
He came on board ESPN having hosted World Sport for
CNN in America. Elaborating on how the show is put together,
Dacey says research for each Sportsline episode takes about
12 hours and there are two teams monitoring proceedings
from around the world. The first team comes in at 6 am and
there is quite a gap between then and the time of programme
airing. A lot of thought and planning goes into the conceptualising
and editing of each episode, Dacey says.
As
far as further programming for the channel is concerned,
Dacey said that later in the year a weekly feature show
would be launched. The logistics for the show are currently
being worked out, says Dacey. The aim is to develop stories
which get only a minute's coverage on Sportsline into
a full length feature. An in-depth look at the stories that
make the headlines as well as an inside look at sports personalities
in the spotlight are things that viewers can look forward
to.
 Prior
to his stint at ESPN Star Sports, Dacey has worked with
both the major world broadcasters BBC and CNN. According
to Dacey, the British broadcaster has better global coverage
as compared to its American counterpart. CNN focusses on
major stories and the coverage has an American slant, says
Dacey. The ESPN show, like BBC programmes, has a global
flavour by covering events all over the world like Formula
One Racing and the Grand Slam tournaments of tennis and
Golf, he adds.
While
other sports do get a mention, cricket still holds pride
of place in the scheme of things and will continue to be
the show driver, Dacey avers. Coming attractions on the
show will include India's tour to the West Indies with live
reports and discussions with experts from the Carribean
just before each day's play. India's tour of England will
also be covered.
Asked
to name his favourite commentators, Dacey says he enjoys
discussing cricket happenings with Navjot Singh Sidhu and
Geoffrey Boycott and likes the way that both “tell it straight”.
Regarding
India he said: “Although this is only my second trip, I
have a long connection with India because of my love for
Indian cricket and love for Indian food.” Jason is a vegetarian
by choice and points out that he became one in London during
the late 1980's as he found English food bland. There was
also the looming threat of mad cow's disease at the time.
Commenting
further on the country, he expressed surprise at the high
level of knowledge Indian youngsters possess. Another point
of note was that people were avid readers and were thus
able to keep abreast of current issues. He cited the ESPN
School Quiz Olympiad as an example, saying that the kids
acquitted themselves admirably.
Besides
cricket, the show would keep track of leading Indian personalities
in other sports, most notably tennis and golf. He mentioned
the role Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have played in
increasing the popularity of tennis.
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